Disclaimer: I do not own any of the names you may or may not recognize. That about covers it.
Rating: M for language and possible naughty bits later on. I haven't decided just HOW M I'm going to make it yet. lol
Author's Note: This story is brand new. Matter of fact, the idea only hit me a few hours ago. It's a little different from my others as in it's mostly AU. Let me know what you think of it. So far, I'm excited about it. If you guys like it, I'll keep writing.
The air around her seemed to swirl. A blue haze of cigarette smoke followed her every step but she didn't mind. It was hers. She'd given up caring a long, long time ago. Many things seemed to have gotten lost along the wayside over the years and her concern for the people around her was just not at the top of the list that night.
It had become a game. How many people could she goad into a fight in a single evening? Hmmm… So far, the record was six and a half. She snorted at the half and ran a hand through hair so red it sparkled like garnets spun into three feet of silk. You can't count it as a win if the man in front of you wets himself before you can through a punch, can you? She shrugged and lifted herself gracefully onto a stool at the bar.
She wasn't here to reminisce. She was here to find someone, someone like her. It'd been a very long time since she'd gotten a summons like this. They never ended well. Never. Once upon a time ago, she'd been given a dream and in that dream she'd seen a woman that was as different from her as black was to white, as good was to evil but she'd gone to find her. She'd crossed half a continent to finally come face to face with the apparition that had come into her rest to beg her help. She was alone, she'd said. She was being hunted, she'd said. Could she please help? Please?
Like a fool, she'd gone. What she found was not a woman hunted, but a hunter. It had taken her a very long time to get away again. The tiny, bird-like creature that had sought her out had been the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing. Behind her placid façade and icy blue eyes was a sadist beyond anything she'd ever seen. She still bore the scars.
A cold chill shook her from her memories and she found herself absently rubbing the pale white slashes that marked up her arms. No, that wasn't why she was there. No sense in dredging up old memories.
The redhead took a deep breath and settled back against the bar, resting on her elbows, one boot hooked in the rung of her stool as she stared out at the crowd. What was she doing there? The place reeked of humanity. The stench of piss and vomit and sweat hung heavy over everything but the people carousing didn't seem to notice. It made her stomach lurch.
She was trying her best to stay amused. She'd been scanning the crowd for going on three hours and so far no one had come forward. He wasn't there. She knew it. If he had been, she'd have felt him for sure.
It worked that way it seemed. Whenever there was one like her around she could just…tell. It was like finding a candle in a dark room. Immediately, her eyes would be drawn to a certain person and she'd know. Whether or not they could feel her the way she could feel them she didn't know. She never stayed around long enough to find out. It wasn't safe.
"Val." Her head shot up. Standing in front of her was a massive man. He had to be pushing seven feet tall but his demeanor made him look smaller. His black hair was obviously dyed. Three inches of Irish red roots proved that. His goatee matched them. "You're Val right?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. She nodded and took a long drag off of her cigarette. He seemed to relax slightly. "Could we…go somewhere?" He continued taking a stool next to her.
"No." She said after a long moment. She was watching him intently. Judging from the way he moved and the hard musculature of his body, he'd been an athlete at some point. He might still have been. Who knew? Val let her eyes drift up from his thick tattooed arms to his eyes. They were so green. She couldn't remember ever seeing eyes quite that shade before and they were studying her as much as she had been him. Suddenly, they gave her the chills.
"I was just hoping we could talk somewhere more privately. There are too many ears here." He was speaking louder but the hesitance was still there. Val made a sour face at him.
"These assholes wouldn't notice of you put on a dress and sang happy birthday to the bartender." She snapped. The big man flinched. Val sighed audibly and shook her head. Something was definitely not right about this person. His size alone should have been enough to put most people off but he seemed to try to fold in on himself every time someone walked past them. He seemed so afraid. "Look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. What's your name?"
"Mark." His eyes flicked to her for half a second and then he was watching the crowd around him again.
"Well Mark, what do you want?" She wanted to shake him when he flinched again.
"I…I…don't exactly know."
"Why did you contact me?" She tried again more slowly. He shook his head.
"I saw you the other night. You…bumped into me and…I knew you were like me." There was such honesty in his face. Val wanted to hit him…hard.
"Alright." She sighed. "Let's go." Val was on her feet before he could react.
"Where are we goin?" He asked following her through the front door and out into the night.
"Just come with me." She said, probably a bit more angrily than she should of given the big bastard's jumpy disposition. Much to her chagrin he missed a step before continuing after her. Val turned to snarl something else at him but thought better of it. Instead, she settled for leading on in silence.
"Is this where you…stay?" Mark asked ducking into the doorway of an abandoned building behind her.
"Jesus no." She blurted. "This is what you were looking for isn't it? Someplace away from people?" He nodded minutely and sat down on an overturned refrigerator.
"Thank you for coming."
"You're welcome. Now, what do you want?"
"I…thought maybe you could help me." Val shivered slightly, he must be relaxing. She could hear the softest twinge of an accent, something southern if she wasn't mistaken.
"What makes you think that?" He shrugged again. Val growled in her throat and stalked over to him.
"Don't touch me!" He yelled as she reached for his face and nearly fell backward off his refrigerator. "Don't EVER touch me!"
"Okay…alright, I won't." She raised her hands defensively and took a seat next to him careful not to brush against him. "Care to tell me why?" Val watched the corners of his eyes tighten as he ran a huge hand through his shaggy hair.
"Ever since I woke up like this…" He paused and swallowed hard. "…Whenever I touch people I see…things." Val's eyebrow shot up involuntarily.
"What kind of things Mark?" The big man turned abruptly toward her at the mention of his name.
"All kinds of things. Things about them I think. Thoughts, memories, feelings... It's crazy. I don't like it." Val laid back, propped up on her elbows and chuckled softly. "What are you laughing at?" He barked. Short of the earlier freak out, it was the most commanding tone that had come out of him.
"It all makes sense now." She was still laughing. "You're new."
"What do you mean I'm new?"
"That's why I couldn't feel you in that bar. You're so young…" She laughed harder as she ignored him.
"I'm forty-one fuckin years old girl." He growled. Apparently mister big and scary wasn't used to being on the low end of the totem pole.
"Okay…" She took a deep breath and composed herself. "How old do you think I am?"
"Hell you could probably be my daughter." He muttered. "Maybe not my daughter but close." Val burst out laughing.
"That's so very kind of you." She reached to pat his arm but pulled away. "Not quite." Mark cocked his head to one side. "I've been wandering longer than you've been alive." The big man started laughing.
"You're good."
"Excuse me?"
"You're twenty-five if you're a day." He was still chuckling to himself. The brief moment of happiness seemed to bring something to him. It was like the sparkle in his green eyes showed her a bit of what he was like before.
"More like three hundred and twenty-five, kid." She said dryly. Mark's laughter stopped as he choked.
"How…" He managed recovering nicely. His eyes were burning through her once more but she again choked back the urge to hit him.
"It's just the way it is." She said cryptically and raised an eyebrow. "Get used to it, if you don't get yourself killed you'll see a lot more birthdays." His green eyes seemed to cloud over at the thought. "What?" Mark shrugged again.
"I was planning my retirement." He muttered. Val said nothing. She was hoping he might continue. "I was gonna sell my condo and buy a ranch back home."
"So do it." She advised dryly. "You're gonna need somewhere to live aren't you?" He nodded but there didn't seem to be much behind it. It was a bare twitch of his neck muscles if it was anything.
"My…wife…" He pressed on. Val could see the faint mist slide across his eyes as he talked. "I…didn't mean it…"
"What about your wife?" She asked. Obviously this big bastard wasn't one to offer up information freely.
"Oh God…" The words were a low moan as his head dropped into his huge hands. Val closed her eyes, counting to ten, before she could trust herself to speak without screaming. Yes, the life he knew was over. Big deal. If he didn't get a handle on this hissy fit he was going to self-destruct.
"You killed her didn't you?" It was just a question, no emotion as she leaned toward him a bit. She wasn't touching him but part of her desperately wanted to. What would happen if she did? He'd probably panic and disappear faster than she could say abracadabra.
Val shook her head while the big man at her side cried into his lap over his lost wife. So what if he did run? It wasn't like she had any vested interest in him. In fact, it was probably the smartest course of action she could come up with. From her years of experience, spending any length of time with her own kind was bad…VERY bad.
"She…" He started and coughed. Good Gods, he was going to hyperventilate. Val stood up and positioned herself in front of him.
"Alright, put your head between your knees." She sighed. Val knew she sounded bored but it was the best she could muster. "Slow breaths. You're going to make yourself pass out if you don't get a grip."
"She was trying to help me!" His voice was gut wrenching in its agony.
"Of course she was…" Val cooed as best she could without touching him, or really wanting anything to do with his breakdown.
"She came out after the attack." He continued tears falling heedlessly into his lap. So he was attacked? That was good to know. It was a start anyway. "She…thought I was dead. I could see her, I could hear her but…" He trailed off into a wracking sob.
"But you couldn't move. It was sort of like being comatose." She finished for him. Mark's head snapped up.
"Yes…exactly." Val nodded as if it were obvious.
"As far as I can tell, that's the way it works." She informed him. "Then it's like you're outside yourself."
"I never…I wouldn't hurt her." He muttered and slid back, resting his head against the cinderblock wall. Val took a few steps away and turned back.
"But you did. You ripped her open and drank every drop of blood you could get into your mouth and then licked her organs clean. Right?" Mark flinched as if she'd plowed him in the face. It was harsh, oh well.
"It…couldn't have been me." He whispered shaking his head as if it could make the nightmare go away.
"Well, I've got news for you big guy, it was you." She said, ran a hand through her hair, and pulled a cigarette out of her pack.
"Can I get one of those?" The big man slumped on the refrigerator asked nearly inaudibly. Val walked over and held out the pack. "Thank you."
"Don't mention it." She muttered as he reached and brushed her finger. Mark gasped and jerked so violently his head crashed into the wall.
"Jesus!" He screamed and covered his eyes with the heels of his hands. "You…"
"Go ahead and say it. I killed my daughter." Val's voice was a low growl. "…And my husband."
"How could you?" Mark spat, his eyes narrowed as if he were seeing her for the first time.
"Don't you dare judge me you son-of-a-bitch!" Val snarled as she stalked over to him and jabbed a wicked looking knife toward his chest. "You know how! Once that first aching comes over you, you don't have a choice."
"I…saw you…" He whispered, his eyes misting over with something like wonder. Val sighed and tucked the blade back into the holster at her back. Good Gods, this was a nightmare.
"We've got to get a handle on that little trick of yours." She grumbled and turned away from him.
"So…you'll help me?" Her hackles rose at the unbridled hope in his voice. She didn't answer him right away.
How the hell did she keep getting herself into messes like this? It must be her good, compassionate, heart. Val rolled her eyes.
"I'll try." She grumbled.
"Oh God thank you." He breathed standing up and walking over to her but still out of arms reach.
"Come on." She said and started for the door. Mark didn't move. "I said, come on."
"Where are we going?"
"To my place until I can find something else to do with you." She said and waved him forward. If not reluctantly, he followed. "There…might be someone I can call."
"To help me?" He asked as she ducked out the door and made for the street. Val nodded and jammed her hand into her pocket for her cigarettes. She took one out and lit it then handed it to Mark before lighting another for herself.
"I don't know how to fix whatever it is that's short circuiting in that third eye of yours but I'll do what I can. Then you're on your own."
"Why do I keep seeing these things?" He asked after they'd crossed two streets and turned down another.
"I don't know. It appears that there are some perks to our condition." She explained but the big man was looking at her like she was crazy.
"I wouldn't call it a perk." He mumbled.
"You just don't know what you're doing with it. There's got to be a way to…wrangle it." She snapped. Mark hesitated a step then continued after her. Christ, he was jumpy! Val was going to have to either seriously alter her personality or he was going to get the crash course in desensitization. She was betting on the latter.
"Does everyone get this?" He ventured a bit more quietly. Val took a long drag off her cigarette and shook her head.
"I don't have it. As far as I can tell it depends. Everybody gets their own goody bag. There do, however seem to be some things that are universal."
"Well…what do you…er…do?"
"Why would I tell you that?" She chuckled. "I don't shit gold bricks that's for sure."
"You said back in that warehouse that couldn't feel me." Val stopped. Damn his memory.
"Okay, you've got me there. One of my little tricks is that I can find others like us." She started walking again.
"So you didn't have to hunt someone down like I did." He deduced.
"No, actually when I came back to myself after the first aching, my teacher was standing in the doorway of my house applauding." Val shivered at the memory. "I think you were lucky." Suddenly, she turned into a near deserted parking lot. "Go ahead and get in."
"This is your car?" Mark asked incredulously as she yanked open the driver's side door of a beautiful early model Trans Am. Val shot him a dry
look and got inside. "This is your car right?"
"No, it just looked pretty. I thought I'd take it for a spin." She rolled her eyes again and shook the keys in front of him.
"Oh." He muttered and buckled his seat belt as she turned the key and brought the beast to life.
"Hold on to your butt." She grinned and stomped the gas, hurdling the car backward before throwing it in drive and tearing out onto the street.
